The region’s mental health trust has pledged to eradicate the use of out of area beds by 2021.

The ambitious claim follows broken promises over the last few years but the organisation said it is confident the goal will be achieved this time around as more detailed and comprehensive plans were in place.

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has been hamstrung by a lack of beds for many years, meaning when a patient needs to be admitted to hospital they can be sent hundreds of miles away or to a private hospital.

An NSFT spokesman said two new OOA placement managers had been recruited to help bring numbers down.

He said: “They monitor bed requests to keep patients within area, wherever possible, and where patients have to go OOA due to the lack of beds locally we look to bring them closer to home as soon as possible.”

Partial hospitalisation was also going to be introduced across all NSFT wards - this is where treatment is more concentrated than outpatient care but patients don’t stay overnight at hospital, and therefore do not need a bed.

Like much of the NHS many beds at NSFT are taken up when patients cannot leave due to social care not being arranged. These cases are known as delayed transfers of care and are being reviewed by NSFT, including bringing in executive trust members to tackle the issue.

Any delays in the discharge process are being looked at and already seven beds have been commissioned as step-down beds to help people get home.

Also set to be introduced are a dedicated personality disorder provision, community wellbeing hubs, and a new project on patient flow.